European Patent Publication EP 0,534,629 B1 describes a weaving loom with a first heald frame and a second heald frame. Each heald frame is vertically shiftable or displaceable in shaft guides of the weaving loom. At least one of the heald frames holds a subframe carrying heald shafts or heddles. The subframe is movable back and forth, for example in the first heald frame, in the weft insertion direction. For performing the back and forth motion the subframe is slidably mounted with an axle or support bar extending in the weft insertion direction and slidably mounted on supports of the respective heald frame that holds the subframe. The healds or heddles of the subframe comprise short heddles alternating with long heddles, whereby each short heddle has the shape of a small rail, the free end of which has a reversed head section with a heddle eye for threading a leno thread through the heddle eye. The subframe is hinged to the axle for tilting back and forth between a weaving position and a warp insertion position to facilitate the threading of the leno threads into the heddle eye. The known loom requires a substantial effort and expense for producing a leno fabric because in addition to the conventional oscillating vertical motion sequence of the at least two heddle frames, a motion sequence extending crosswise to the normal vertical motion for moving the subframe in the weft insertion direction is required.
European Patent Publication EP 0,369,525 B1 discloses a method for producing a leno or so-called cross weave fabric including at least one heald frame for the ground warp threads and two heald frames for the leno threads. This type of loom also requires a relatively high effort and expense for the construction and driving elements of the three heald frames.
German Patent Publication DE 197 50 804 C1 discloses a leno selvage apparatus for producing solid or tight selvages with the help of two lifting heddles which are mounted on two heald shafts of a loom. The heald shafts are alternately movable. The selvage forming device further includes a so-called half heald or heddle that cooperates with the two lifting heddles. More specifically, the half heddle is alternately entrained by one or the other lifting heald or heddle in accordance with the motion of the heald frames. The half heddle includes two legs which merge at their upper ends into a head formation provided with an eye for guiding the ground thread. The production of a leno selvage with a leno binding by means of such a combination of two long lifting heddles with a short half heddle is known and does not require any further description.